The R's coordinated their assault on labor, Dems haven't coordinated a defense

I'll repeat myself because I want to be clear about what I think is happening...

This is a NATIONAL ASSAULT ON LABOR via a coordinated NATIONAL EFFORT of a NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY, and there is no COORDINATED NATIONAL DEFENSE FOR LABOR.

These bills are burning through civil rights all across the nation, and like houses on fire each one must be fought in it's place. But, that doesn't preclude a national defense supported by a pro-labor national political party.

Some labor supporters are calling for help from the national level, others are arguing the help away...It's got all the appearances of another bloody circular firing squad here on DU.

But, maybe we should hold our fire for a couple minutes consider what's up with this...

Why would the R's use national coordination to launch this assault and the pro-labor side refuse coordinated defense through the Dems?

The only thing I can come up with is because the pro-labor leaders in the states don't think the Dems have anything to offer that could be helpful. Why shouldn't some of our pro-labor brothers and sisters see that as a disappointing reality?

If that's the case, then those of us who are not wanting Obama or other national dems in the fray at the state level, compared to those of us discouraged because he isn't in the fray are actually not opponents of a KIND but are in different places along the disappointment curve.

Is it that unreasonable that people just like us, who think in terms of Party and party ideologies, would think one party ought to be prepared to defend it's values against the attacks of the other?

they are part of the attack.

That's Arne Duncan, that's Andrew Cuomo, sadly it may even be Jerry Brown.

Cuomo's passing off the same bullshit about pensions as the cause of budget crises, tax cuts for the rich, ending teacher tenure, with even suggestions to commandeer central control of local communities on the basis that they're bankrupt.

The difference is that he brings the unions on board in the process (of robbing from union members to assure that the banksters can keep growing their plundered share of everything).

whether or not they are to blame.

As WE ARE NOW THE THEM, this is very disappointing.

they are following the money...right to the corporatists and uber wealthy.

But that doesn't mean that some people aren't just now waking up to that reality.

And even for those who have been awake to this...it doesn't mean that a labor-neutral national Democratic party isn't heart-breakingly disappointing.

Every core principle of the Democrats has been abandoned..The people are on their own and all they have to say is "Who else are you going to vote for"? "Fucking retards"

I refuse to take this defeatist attitude and am instead empowered by the state Democrats who have proven they have spines. The magic is brewing in WI, MI, FL and nationwide. Let it. We'll show them.

Local Dems need local votes to stay in office.

Nat'l dems --when was the last time they personally came knocking on your door? You can bet they lunch regularly with lobbyists.

The magic brewing here is being exported. I am optimistic that this is, as Monk said, the birth of a movement.

That's why there is that old saw from Tip O'Neil about "All politics is local."

And that's also why the 50 state strategy is inherently a good strategy.

Look, this is CLASSIC class war stuff. Marx, et. al. have talked and written about it for centuries. The problem is that some people are STILL looking at this as a Republican (bad)/Democratic (good) model AND IT'S NOT! The whole point to the two party system is compromise. At some point compromise becomes selling out because the paradigm tilts TOO far to the wealthy capitalists. It will ALWAYS tilt to the capitalists because they have the money, and consequently the POWER, to influence BOTH of the parties in their favor. So even the COMPROMISES necessary in our two party system, start to favor the rich over the rest of us.

When we start looking at this as a financial elite vs the rest of us is when we'll start getting a handle on the ENTIRE paradigm. Historically, yes the Dems have been more on the side of the have nots rather than the haves, but that's changing BECAUSE THE WEALTHY HAVE MADE DEEP INROADS INTO THE DEMS TOO. And yes, I KNOW that the wealthy TOTALLY own the Republicans. This doesn't mean vote Republican, but it does mean FORCING individual candidates to choose WHICH SIDE THEY'RE ON. Because just because you have a "D" behind your name, that doesn't mean that you're automatically on the side of the people.

If we start understanding this simple fact, it's us vs. them, NOT Dem vs. REP than we can STAY focussed and STAY involved because we KNOW that just because Dems are in power that does NOT mean that the elites are defeated.

The Wisconsin 14 ARE on the side of the people, not because they're Dems, but just because they ARE.

they put in Reagan, Bush. The voters destroyed the once solid labor friendly Congress. Placing in Newt and his gang of thieves. Why do Americans expect a strong national party for the workers, when those very workers refuse to vote on labor issue. Far too many believe the gay, religion and race are more important issues than their job and class come election time. Until the workers unite in their anger and vote, you won't see a national defense.

Look they're burning the American flag! Look, they want to marry dogs! Look the blacks are getting all the jobs because of affirmative action! Oh my God! They're killing all the little fetus people!

Et cetera...

Why does it seem that Democrats are always on the defense?

several years ago, and the rest of us just ignored it. . .

and then when we did have to deal with it, it was always in defense.

and then finally control the debate. Meanwhile, that leave Democrats to always play defense. Maybe it's time to go on the offense for a change.

but to the gay community as well. Is there some reason why we aren't allowed to question self-claiming alleged "Christians" when they pull the bible out and hide their bigotry behind it? Cuz that is never shown on television and not a single activist dares ask how a "Christian" could practice lying. . .and lying is part of the entire con-artist GOP playbook.

Ditto for the "liberals" who somehow get interviewed on hyped-up "controversial" issues - which only become "controversial" when the Right declares them to be - the Left's "controversies" are often just ignored. But even most left wing bloggers react rather than go on the offense, as if we are still astonished at how outrageous the Right can be, rather than just EXPECT them to be outrageous - that's what gets them the attention!

As long as we continue to function in reaction rather than playing offense, we should expect to lose.

THIS assault will end up KILLING PEOPLE, causing many people to SUFFER, and PILLAGING commonly held weath from people at all levels of government organization.

If it was a game then we have been playing it so poorly that we should be ashamed. Two years ago Democrats not only held the presidency, but both houses of congress and where are we now?

Two years ago here in Wisconsin the Democrats also controlled things, but where are we today? No, this is not a game and I hope that Democrats here and everywhere else finally understand you don't win a war by staying at home.

And this is more of that same pent-up emotion...

It wasn't really directed against your thought, but rather an expression of my frustration with the professional Dems and TeeVee pundits. They all discuss this with "game language."

It's hardly a game for a retired person to lose their medicaid support for drug purchases.

It's hardly a game for 50 year-olds with seniority, who will be targeted for 'downsizing the workforce' because they are not only a threat to current payroll costs, but also to future demands on corporation's and the state's self-funded retirement plans.

It's hardly a game for citizens to have their airports, harbors, water supplies, highways, government office buildings, and parks (the assets that make possible favorable bond ratings that make possible the renovation and building schools, public hospitals etc.) sold off for pennies on the dollar.

It's hardly a game for college students who won't be able to afford educations that an "advanced" economy demands.

It's hardly a game for children of the poor who rely on ALL OF US, to protect their futures and to provide them access to a fair chance in life that their poor parents cannot.

It is DEADLY serious. It's serious like CANCER is serious! It's as serious as a HEART ATTACK!!

The decisions being made in Madison WILL KILL PEOPLE AND DESTROY LIVES for generations.

Think about this...Nine generations of Wisconsinites have built this state--nursed it from an undeveloped frontier to a leading state in education, medicine and technology--Promoted HEALTHFUL living through the per capita biggest public park system in the nation and through an environmental awareness that led the entire nation BEFORE the environmental movement of the late 1960's.

THIS was a state in which we could be justifiably be proud. Surely it seems imperfect because Wisconsinites ARE progressive and we ALWAYS WILL want better lives for our children and grand children. But this IS, or at least WAS UNTIL RECENTLY, a state where people not only Dreamed of a better Future, but WORKED and VOTED, and WILLINGLY Paid Taxes! in order to make life better for those who would populate the Future.

Today, the progressive heritage of Wisconsin is TRULY ENDANGERED.

I'm a veteran, I've been around,
I know what I mean when I say this place is endangered.
I know what it means to say, "THIS is a VERY special place.
It is a place where people hold in common values that are worth fighting to preserve."

They've essentially abandoned "us," not only on the issue of labor, but also on the issues of women's rights, tax policy, education, and civil liberties. There are clearly several Dems in the Senate who disagree with these WH policies, but they don't want to break with the President in order to maintain some illusion of unity (Sherrod Brown on labor, John Kerry on Manning's detention, and even Chuck Schumer on fiscal policy).

Sometimes I wonder if the DNC was deliberately weakened so that Republicans would have the way clear for their assault. I just can't see a DNC led by someone like Howard Dean not mounting a vigorous defense and counterattack against these right-wing assaults.

I can't say they don't care, I would say there has been significant neglect of labor issues going back into the late 80's and early 90's.

Most importantly I'd say that the national parties impotence in this civil rights struggle is a VERY serious problem for the National Democratic Party.

Union members may only be a fraction of the base, but more than half of the base believes in progressive values that unions represent.

just might lead to continued apathy in 2012. We are looking at a narrow re-election with next to no coattails down ticket in terms of Congress.

You have to give people motivation to vote for you. It is clearly time for people at the grass-roots level to rise up and start taking back this party.

There aren't quite 4 million registered voters in Wisconsin.

Although the numbers are fuzzy, the sum of the attendance of the rallies _just in Madison_ is somewhere north of 750K. Adding in the various local protests that have occurred across the state and it's likely that 1 million people have attended protests.

That is potentially 25% of the electorate! No politician is going to give away 25% of the vote without having something to say about that. Even the republican messaging will be affected by this.

The protests to date have already changed the 2012 election climate.

I say that NOT as an Obama cheerleader. Quite the contrary, in fact. The national Democrats have proven that they want to "play nice" with these assholes. They would have never done what our state Democrats did. I say, stay on the sidelines, national Democrats, and watch how it's done.

is a product of DISAPPOINTMENT. That others are disappointed because there is not national level support is DISAPPOINTMENT.

ALL THE PRO-LABOR PROGRESSIVES ARE DISAPPOINTED!

Some of us are more disappointed than others, but, we are united BY disappointment!

We don't have to keep fighting with each other about whose disappointment is more righteous!

The Senate and Assemblymen have set a new standard and other states will follow. If the national Democrats don't take them as examples for how to do things then at least maybe we'll knock the wind out of the sails of the teabaggers.

comments at the return of the 14. I KNOW that he gets IT. I know that the 14 gets it, and I know the Democratic caucus in the Assembly get it.

I think that in our shared State of Wisconsin, we're all tremendously encouraged by and united through our commitment to gaining back what has been stripped away.

UNDIVIDED WE WILL _NEVER_ FAIL!


I am saying "See The Unity!" It is not a fiction; it is really there.

Sen. Kohl (I do not know if he marched (as Tammy Baldwin did) but he showed up at a couple of rallies--like Saturday when the Dem 14 rallied with the crowd in Madison. I appreciate that as did others who saw that.

always do, bend over and take it. They didn't factor in the power of the people and didn't expect the ground to swell like it has.... and we're fucking them all up.

their opportunity. The semiotic they were reading was exactly as you say...dem politicians always backing away from a struggle.

When you are about to be hung, a progressive compromise isn't asking for half a length of rope.

kicking and in control still (the Third Way) is not for labor. That is why the party is splintered and ill equipped for a national party response to this attack.

The DNC couldn't get this many people activated. I find myself identifying more with labor than a political party these days, anyways - and I think the midterms suggest that I'm not alone. If you're looking for passionate and organized leadership, unions are supplying it.

around which progressives in Wisconsin rallied. That is undeniable, and without them the Uprising in Wisconsin would have been a very different thing.

At least here in Wisconsin, there are whole lot of other people who have united with that core.

These awful bills in the states, they go way beyond labor issues. They are enabling acts that destroy democracy and replace it with government of, for and by corporations. The ideology behind these bills is fascism.

These bills not only strip away union rights, they enable a HUGE asset grab. What amounts to a redistributions of assets from the commonwealth to private hands. These bills guarantee that the people of the individual states and the nation will not have enough wealth to compete for power. They are promoting the end of the Great American Experiment.

base politics. I think that's happened to a lot of people.

Caught between an obsolete but persistent relationship and the reality of the way things are. That's what they (and we) get for keeping the farce going for too long. The national party's only interest in unions is at election time, is it not obvious?

Some of use sooner than others.

There certainly is a difference between the values of the people who are the democratic base distributed through the various states and values of the national level politicians who are assumed to be 'the party.'

But more importantly there is the sudden emergency that brings that awareness. It's a blitzgedanke
in whose flash everything that was long unseen is suddenly known in stark awareness.

I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know what will happen from here, but I think that leap into awareness will have consequences.

Something has to change.